Prehistory of Brittany
This page concerns the prehistory of Brittany.
Palaeolithic
Brittany was never
Consequently, few if any people could survive in Brittany prior to the end of the last glaciation, and only a few Palaeolithic sites are known from Brittany, like the rock shelter of Perros-Guirec near Rochworn. The only cave site known so far is Roc'h Toul in a sandstone promontory near Guiclan (Finistère). The cave contained about 200 artifacts and was dated to the late Magdalenian by de Mortillet. Because of the presence of points with curved backs, it is now connected with the epipalaeolithic Azilian. Other Azilian sites include Parc-an-Plenen and Enez Guennoc.
Mesolithic
The best-known
In Teviec there are stone cist graves. The bones of an infant have been postmortally ornamented with striations.
The corresponding settlements consist of shell middens. A
In
Some scholars speculate that megalithic graves might go back to the Mesolithic, but this contention is difficult to prove, as most structures have been reused. Large numbers of microliths have been found under the
Neolithic
The westernmost extensions of the Villeneuve-Saint-Germain culture, based on a Linear Pottery culture tradition are found in eastern Brittany at Le Haut Meé. The use of schist from the eastern edge of the Breton Massif for bracelets in settlements in the Paris Bassin attests to widespread trade. A bracelet of polished stone found in a grave in the VSG-settlement of Jablines Les-Longues-Raies was made of amphibolite from the island of Groix in southern Morbihan, proves trade with local Mesolithic communities.
The earliest long mounds date to the early-5th millennium (
Some scholars see an influence of the central European
Carn-pottery, thin walled round based deep bowls, often with applied crescents (croissants) is typical for early
Middle Neolithic settlements include La Motte, La Butte-aux-Pierres and Lannic. They mainly concentrate on the Coast. The pottery shows
Stone circles like Er Lannic (a double oval of standing stones and a ditch) sometimes contain settlement material and pottery of Chasséen-type.
By the middle of the 3rd century, the Kerugou, upper and lower Conguel and Rosmeur/Croh Collé types became preponderant.
From the late 3rd millennium, Grand-Pressigny
There is no indication that the beaker people already exploited the Armorican metal deposits.
Bronze Age
The early
The barrow of Kernonen en Plouvorn, Finistère, provides a good example of a rich burial of the first series.
The barrows of the second series are a bit smaller and show a more inland-distribution. They do not normally contain metal, but numerous pottery vessels, high biconical vessels, sometimes with a geometric decoration under the rim, or single four-handled undecorated pots. There seems to be no division of the grave goods by gender.
Glass-beads are found in some graves, for example at Mez-Nabat, Plouhinec (Finistère).
A number of radiocarbon-dates are known from the barrows:
name of site | dept. | Lab number | date | standard deviation |
---|---|---|---|---|
Plouvorn, Kernonen | Finistère | Gif-805 | 1960 | 120 |
Melrand, Saint-Fiacre | Morbihan | Gif-863 | 1950 | 135 |
Goarem Goasven | Finistère | Gif-1313 | 1850 | 130 |
Saint Evarzec, Kerhuel | Finistère | Gif-482 | 1630 | 200 |
Kervigny | Finistère | Gif-2481 | 1560 | 100 |
Ligollenec, Berrien | Finistère | Gif-1866 | 1550 | 120 |
Kerno en Ploudariel | Finistère | Gif-2421 | 1500 | 100 |
Plouvorn, Kernonen | Finistère | Gif-1149 | 1480 | 120 |
Cleger, Kervelerin | Finistère | Gsy-86 | 1345 | 150 |
Guidel, Tuchenn Cruguel | Finistère | Gif-235 | 1320 | 200 |
Cleder, Le Helen | Finistère | Gif-748 | 1300 | 115 |
Plouzévédé, Ar Réunic | Finistère | Gif-1113 | 1250 | 120 |
Plouvorn, Kernonen | Finistère | Gif-806 | 1250 | 120 |
Plouzévédé, Ar Réunic | Finistère | Gif-1115 | 1210 | 120 |
Plouvorn, Kernonen | Finistère | Gif-807 | 1200 | 120 |
Goarem Goasven | Finistère | Gif-1314 | 1050 | 130 |
Courcoury | Charente Maritime | Gif-2347 | 850 | 70 |
Plouhinec, Lescongar | Finistère | Gif-2347 | 850 | 70 |
Crée de Carat | Finistère | GrN-1973 | 700 | 60 |
The later part of the early Bronze Age saw the beginning of the exploitation of the Armorican
Coastal salterns are known from the late Bronze Age onwards as well, for example at Curnic, Guissény.
Pollen analysis shows that widespread clearance of the beech forests took place in the early Bronze Age. Cereal pollen have been found at Porsguen, Plouescat, for example. Domestic animals included sheep, goats and cattle, but hunting may have still provided a lot of meat. La Roche, Videlles, has still 60% wild animals among the animal bones, but it is not clear if this is typical. Carbonised remains of naked wheat and barley have been found at Plounéour-Trez, hazelnuts and acorns were eaten as well. Flint still formed an important part of the tool inventory.
Some standing stones (Menhirs) and stone alignments date to the early Bronze Age, for example the Grand Menhir Brisé at Locmariaquer.
The later Bronze Age sees only a slight
The square-socketed armorican axes turn up in hoards in great numbers. At Maure-de-Bretagne, over 4000 axes have been found, ca. 800 at Tréhou and Loudéac.
The axes are mainly unused and may have been a form of ingot of primitive currency. They contain a high amount of lead or consist of pure lead and are distributed from the Iberian Peninsula to eastern Germany, Ireland and Southern Britain, with some pieces from Scotland, Poland and Switzerland. Different regional types are known: Brandivy in Morbihan, Dahouet and Plurien on the North coast, Tréhou in Finistère. The miniature types of Maure-de-Bretagne, Ille-et-Vilaine and Couville are typical of Upper Brittany.
Copper was imported from Spain as plano-convex ingots, as found in the hoard of Penfoul, Landelau.
Settlements have rarely been excavated, Ploubazlanec at the mouth of the Trieux is an example of a fortified village.
The Museum of PreHistory in Carnac has large quantities of Late Bronze Age bronze and copper artifacts from the Atlantic Bronze Age culture.[1] This culture was a maritime trading-networked culture that included Brittany and most of the rest of France, the other Celtic nations, England, Spain and Portugal. According to John T. Koch, Barry Cunliffe, Karl, and Wodtko, Celtic languages developed in the intense interactions of this culture with the Tartessian language the first written language so far discovered from this era,[2][3][4][5][6] but this view stands in contrast to the more generally accepted view of Celticists that their origin lies with the Central European Hallstatt culture and that Tartessian cannot be classified as Celtic at all.
Iron Age
A variety of tribes are mentioned in Roman sources, like the
Armorican gold coins have been widely exported and are even found in the Rhineland.
An estimated 40–55 kg of salt per oven were produced at Ebihens. Each oven was about 2 m long. The site dates to the end of the early La Tène or the middle La Tène period. Numerous briquetage-remains have been found. At Tregor, boudins de Calage (hand-bricks) were the typical form of briquetage, between 2,5 and 15 cm long and with a diameter between 4–7 cm. At the salterns at Landrellec and Enez Vihan at Pleumeur-Bodou the remains of rectangular ovens have been excavated that are 2,5–3 m long and ca. 1 m wide and constructed of stones and clay. On the Gulf of Morbihan about 50 salterns have been found so far, mainly dating to the final La Téne period.
Later history
References
- ^ "Le Musée de Préhistoire à Carnac". Archived from the original on 2010-06-04. Retrieved 2010-06-01.
- ^ "News: Aberystwyth University".
- ^ "O'Donnell Lecture 2008 Appendix" (PDF).
- ISSN 1578-5386. Retrieved 2010-05-17.
- ^ Koch, John. "New research suggests Welsh Celtic roots lie in Spain and Portugal". Retrieved 10 May 2010.
- ISBN 978-1-84217-410-4. Archived from the originalon 2010-06-12.
Bibliography
- Bowen, E. G. (1977) Saints, Seaways and Settlements in the Celtic Lands. Cardiff: University of Wales Press ISBN 0-900768-30-4
- Monnier, Jean-Jacques & Cassard, Jean-Christophe, with a team of scholars of the Breton Universities of Brest, Nantes, and Rennes (1996) "Toute l’histoire de Bretagne" in Britain and in Brittany; 800 pages. Morlaix: Editions Skol-Vreizh ISBN 2-903313-95-4
- Tonnerre, Noël-Yves (1994) Naissance de la Bretagne; 621 pp. Angers: Presse de l'Université d' Angers
- Fleuriot, Léon (1980) Les origines de la Bretagne. Paris: Éd. Payot ISBN 2-228-12710-8
- Dillon, Myles, Chadwick, Nora & Guyonvarc'h, Christian-J. Les royaumes celtiques, Librairie Arthème Fayard, 1974.ISBN 2-213-00077-8
- Dillon, Myles & Chadwick, Nora (1967) The Celtic Realms. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson
- L'Histoire de la Bretagne et des pays celtiques, Morlaix, Skol Vreizh, 1966
- Le Moyne de la Borderie, Arthur (1905) Histoire de la Bretagne; 6 vol. 4to, Plihon Editeur, Imprimerie Vatar, Rennes 1905-1914.
- Lobineau, Dom (1707) Histoire de Bretagne; 2 vol. folio Paris: veuve Muguet
- Morice, Dom & Taillandier, Dom (1750) Histoire de Bretagne; 2 vol. folio. Paris:, veuve elaguette, 1750-1756.
- Morice, Dom & Taillandier, Dom (1742) Mémoires pour servir de preuves à l'Histoire de Bretagne; 3 vol. folio. Paris: Ch. Osmont, 1742-1746.
See also
- Prehistoric France